Obama's Muslim Brotherhood-linked aide hasn't really quit

By Robert Spencer

This is a couple of weeks old, but I don't recall anyone remarking upon it. Barack Obama's Muslim Outreach Coordinator, Mazen Asbahi, resigned under pressure in August after it was revealed that he was "a frequent speaker before several groups in the U.S. that scholars have associated with the Muslim Brotherhood."

The Muslim Brotherhood, of course, is engaged “in America [in] a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” — Mohamed Akram, “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,” May 22, 1991

And now it turns out that Asbahi hasn't really quit at all.

"Muslim Outreach Proves A Tricky Issue For A Campaign Lauded As Multicultural," by Sean Higgins for Investor's Business Daily, August 25 (thanks to Diana West):

Key Aide Hasn't Really Quit

Last month, his coordinator for Muslim outreach, Mazen Asbahi, a Chicago lawyer, quit after reports that he belonged to the board of an Islamic investment fund that included a radical imam.

Asbahi has not stopped working on behalf of Obama, though. He appeared at the luncheon to say that despite his official exit he was still "110%" behind Obama and that he was participating in campaign conference calls on Muslim outreach.

Stepping down was a "strategic decision," he told the audience. Asbahi declined to answer IBD questions clarifying his current role. Read more ...

Source: Investor's Business Daily
H/T: Jihad WatchMazen Asbahi
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award

Zogby Then and Now

The resignation two weeks ago of Mazen Asbahi, Sen. Barack Obama's Muslim outreach coordinator, sparked outrage among several self-appointed leaders of the "organized" Muslim and Arab community. Ahmed Rehab, mouthpiece for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), claimed Asbahi was "a victim of what I would call the anti-Muslim smear and fear campaign." Not to be outdone, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), issued a press release titled, "In Atmosphere of Islamophobia, Obama Volunteer Steps Down Amidst Personal Attacks," which "urged both presidential campaigns to rise above post-9/11, anti-Muslim hysteria."

Now comes James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), on the Huffington Post website, in a post titled, "It's a Damn Shame," to make similar charges. Read more ...

Source: IPT NewsJames Zogby
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award

U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Employs Standard Rhetorical Tactics in Defense of Former Obama Campaign Adviser

One of the major rhetorical tactics of the global Muslim Brotherhood can be characterized as “accuse others of that of which you yourself are guilty.”

For example, U.S. Muslim Brotherhood organizations with a history of anti-Semitism frequently accuse critics of “Islamophobia” and, while asserting “smear campaigns” directed against Muslims, do their best to demonize and defame their critics. The general strategy is to conflate criticism of the Muslim Brotherhood and/or Islamism with attacks on Muslims or Islam itself. Thus, individuals and organizations who report on Brotherhood activities are frequently called “Islamophobes” and their work products labeled as “anti-Islam.”

The aim of such tactics appears to be invoking the laudatory impulse to defend against genuine defamation as opposed to critical analysis. A further goal seems to be the generation of support for Brotherhood organizations by manufacturing the impression that Islam and Muslims are under attack, requiring the intercession of Brotherhood organizations for defense.

An example of such tactics is a piece which appeared yesterday on the Huffington Post, a left-wing blog, by pollster and prominent Arab-American James Zogby. Read more ...

Source: Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report

Spinning the Asbahi Resignation

The resignation of presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama's Muslim outreach coordinator is triggering a new wave of harrumphing that Muslim Americans are being shut out of the 2008 campaign.

Mazen Asbahi resigned less than two weeks after joining the Obama campaign. It happened after the Wall Street Journal asked about his past involvement with the "Allied Assets Advisors Fund, a Delaware-registered trust. Other fund board members at the time included Jamal Said, the imam at a fundamentalist-controlled mosque in Illinois," the Journal reported.

Charging to cast the move as part of a broader campaign of bigotry against Muslims was Ahmed Rehab, the Council on American-Islamic Relations' (CAIR) Chicago executive director. On Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor," Rehab dismissed the resignation as a practical political move that reflects bigotry against Muslims:

"I think that Mazen Asbahi is a victim of what I would call the anti-Muslim smear and fear campaign that we have seen in this election cycle time and time again. In this case, like many, the allegations started on a web site that did not corroborate what they are allegating (sic) with any evidence. They stated that he had certain links with fundamentalists, in this case the allegation was against imam Jamal Said, who I know personally to be a great American faith leader and not a radical imam as the Wall Street Journal falsely stated." Read more ...

Source: IPT News

Obama's Muslim-Outreach Adviser tied to Muslim Brotherhood, quits

The Muslim Brotherhood “must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying the Western civilization from within and ‘sabotaging’ its miserable house by their hands and the hands of the believers so that it is eliminated and Allah’s religion is made victorious over all other religions.” - Mohamed Akram, “An Explanatory Memorandum on the General Strategic Goal for the Group in North America,” May 22, 1991

By Glenn R. Simpson and Amy Chozick

The Muslim-outreach coordinator to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama has resigned amid questions about his involvement in an Islamic investment fund and various Islamic groups.

Chicago lawyer Mazen Asbahi, who was appointed volunteer national coordinator for Muslim American affairs by the Obama campaign on July 26, stepped down Monday after an Internet newsletter wrote about his brief stint on the fund's board, which also included a fundamentalist imam.

"Mr. Asbahi has informed the campaign that he no longer wishes to serve in his volunteer position, and we are in the process of searching for a new national Arab American and Muslim American outreach coordinator," spokesman Ben LaBolt said in a statement. Read more ...

Source: WSJ
H/T: Jihad WatchMazen Asbahi
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award